Sunday Sermon - 11.10.24
LATIN MASS: RESUMED 5TH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
EPISTLE: Colossians 3:12 Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: 13 Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. 14 But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: 15 And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one Body: and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. 17 All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
Charity is the bond of perfection. What a great statement of truth. Love of God and love of man is what bonds perfection, keeps it grasped firmly in our soul. Forgiving others as you have been forgiven by Christ. Teaching, admonishing and encouraging our fellow Christians to grow in virtue and holiness. The simplest way to Heaven is to grab the hands of other Christians and walk together towards Him.
GOSPEL: Matthew 13:24 Another parable He proposed to them, saying: The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seeds in his field. 25 But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way. 26 And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. 27 And the servants of the goodman of the house coming said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle? 28 And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? 29 And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. 30 Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.
Our Lord promises that evildoers will remain with us and in the Catholic Church until His second coming. We cannot avoid it and we cannot hope to have a Church without some evildoers within it. We can fight them and help purify the Church, but we won’t get rid of all of them. This is our fight and we must not whine or complain about it. Each one of us was created by God specifically for THIS time and place. This is the battlefield that Our Lord chose for us. Be happy warriors for Christ. Embrace the battle. Embrace the suffering. Embrace your cross!
One funny sidenote: For all those Protestants who believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, where all Christians are taken away by Christ before the awful events of Revelation happen, notice who are the ones who are actually taken first. The cockle, the tares, are taken first. The true Christians are the ones “Left Behind”.
NOVUS ORDO: THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: 1 Kings 17:10 So Elijah set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” 15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke by Elijah.
Can we be charitable until it hurts? Can we give until it is painful? This is something we all struggle with, especially in our time of great comfort and plenty. This poor widow was willing to give Elijah the very last food she had for herself and her son. Starvation is imminent and yet she still gave. God rewards her for her charity and preserves the lives of herself and her family. But that pales in comparison to the rewards He has already given her in Heaven. Every act of true charity we perform here on Earth will be rewarded many times over by Our Lord in Heaven. He will not be out-done in charity.
NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but He entered into Heaven itself, now to appear in the Presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then He would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.
In the same theme as the other readings this Sunday, Christ shows His own level of charity and sacrifice when He embraces His cross to give Himself to us and for us. His offering of Himself is an eternal and infinite sacrifice. It happened one time, but for Our Lord, who is outside of both time and space, this sacrifice is eternal. All moments in time are eternally present to Him. His offering was not just a pure sacrifice, but an infinite and eternal one as well.
GOSPEL: Mark 12:38 As He taught, He said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then He called His disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Yet another widow who willingly gives even the little bit that she has to live with. She doesn’t have to offer these two coins. No one will notice if the poor widow does not give her two coins. No one will punish her if she does not give them. She does this entirely out of a charitable and giving heart. Her soul, even while she is poor and destitute, still is pure and gives in charity to others. We should all strive for this level of charity.